Thou shalt not covet

I shouldn't admit this but figure as long as I'm upfront about it then it's ok right? Today I coveted, a lot. I had to drive out to Daybreak for work (we had a safety open house for Safe Kids Week) and it was the first time I had been out there, even after hearing about how nice the homes were. Let's just say they didn't disappoint! The model home we had our event at was huge! I loved the styles of the homes, heritage looking but with all the fancy features of a new home. I'm not kidding, but our entire house could have fit on the main level alone, actually it would have had a ton of room to spare. Pearl kept running around amazed to find bathroom after bathroom, not to mention stairs to a basement and second floor. She opened every single door and pulled open all the drawers, as if in amazement that this house had so many rooms in it. Then on the way home I decided to stop and check out Tai Pan Trading for the first time. I have secretly wanted to go there forever but with a husband who thinks its a junk store, didn't have the guts to do it. Wow!!! I will definitely be back but man, after seeing these gorgeous new homes and finding the store that must have been the one to decorate them, I was on the verge of breaking one of the 10 commandments.

Then, tonight I really broke the commandment "Thou shalt not covet" when Jeff drove me to a new development nearby that he's been wanting to build a house in. We looked it up online and man, now I want a new heritage home!!! They are just what we want, at least the outside look anyway, in a location we love, and on a quiet street. I have no idea how much they cost but oh the fun of coveting, er I mean dreaming. We've bantered with the idea of selling our house and buying something bigger and newer (we love old homes but the repairs are costly and it would be nice to have some "modern" conveniences and extra floor space) for quite some time now but with the economy tanking it's probably not realistic. We don't want a mansion or ginormous house and we do know our limits when it comes to $$$ but can't one dream? We bought our house at a perfect time and wouldn't be underwater if we did sell it (if we could in this housing market), but our lovely foundation repair a couple years ago really messed things up. We love our house and our neighbors are great, but someday we'll probably outgrow this place (NO, we are NOT making any announcements!!!!). We would love to have some more room for Pearl to run around and in the event we did have another baby, a place to actually put the little thing. Oh and a second bathroom would be great, not to mention a closet that can actually hold your clothes (and we don't have that many, trust me, just ask Jeff who still has shirts from pre-mission and high school days). It does make me sad thinking we might leave the house we fell in love with, brought our first baby home to, and worked hard to fix up the yard but I couldn't help myself today wanting something I probably don't need and shouldn't have when so many others I know are struggling with much bigger problems than wishing they had more space. Guess I better start repenting.

Oh baby, oh baby!

I've always wanted to go to Baby Animal Days and now that I have a kid, I have a great excuse to drive to Wellsville just to hold and cuddle new spring baby animals. And I'm giving everyone a tip who wants to go but doesn't want to deal with the estimated crowds of 15,000 plus! Don't go Easter weekend. Wait until they have just the baby animals out the following two weekends and skip all the extra fluff activities that you just end up waiting hours in line for anyway. It was a perfect weekend to go, not too hot, no crowds, and tons of fun! Oh, minus the forgetting of the sunscreen...oops.
Pearl loves reading about farm animals and I was hoping seeing them in real life wouldn't freak her out too much. She did great and was happy to chase chickens, pet the baby goats, ride on the wagon, and of course the pony rides! But I'm pretty sure my sister was more excited to be there than me, Pearl, and my mom combined. She kept texting her hubby and asking if she could bring home various farm animals - turtles, chickens, ducks. And Kimmy is pretty sure she has a new career as a chicken whisperer after clucking to one hen who then laid an egg! No kidding either. Kind of freaky that Kimmy can communicate with a chicken. I told her she must have scared the *$!@ out of her to get that egg out!The last time I took Pearl on a pony ride she screamed the entire time. But she really wanted to go so we saddled her up and she loved it! She didn't even mind wearing the helmet. We ended up going three times. The last time because my silly mom turned the camera off and thought she was recording the video of Pearl riding the pony so we had a do-over ride. Good thing it only cost $2 after the first ride.The only animals that freaked Pearl out were the baby chickens and ducks. I can't blame her, the chickens were kind of freaky. They weren't the cute, just-hatched yellow ones you remember from elementary school but kind of scrawny, long feathery ones. Pearl was quick to point out any animals that were "pooey" smelling. It was hilarious because she didn't hold back at all in yelling it to entire farm. I was just glad she didn't step in any of the "pooey."My favorite was the soft and very tiny baby bunnies and this beautiful calf! I so wanted to take them home with me, but knew Jeff would either kill me or them, whichever was worth more! Sorry again for a monster post but with learning how to use my new camera I take oodles of pictures. Hopefully you enjoy them as much as we did!

498 pictures later...

What do you get with a treat-filled egg hunt, delicious brunch, two-year-old fashion show, ding dong bunnies, and one big, loud, happy family? One memorable Easter weekend! My family comes to our house for Easter (and after two years, I think we're stuck with the party planning from now one) and this year I decided to do an Easter brunch, even though it was well past lunch by the time we came back inside from the egg hunt. The schedule wouldn't have gotten so behind had Mother Nature not decided to tease us with a forecasted rainy weekend. Luckily, it held off and we were able to have the egg hunt outside. With a 100 year old house and a tiny floor plan, I think it would have driven me crazy to have it inside!

Kimmy and Nick are in charge of hiding the eggs. And just like last year, no one counted them beforehand although I think if you hide 'em, you count 'em. Maybe we'll find one 6 months later like we did last year.
Pearl knew exactly what to do when we gave her the basket and said to go find the eggs. I had been prepping her all week with a book I bought about a bunny finding eggs, and it didn't hurt that the daycare did a mini egg hunt either. It took Ruby (or as Pearl calls her "Rue") a few minutes to figure out what to do but once those two discovered there was candy inside the eggs the game was on. It was a blast watching them run around and get so excited to find another egg. Cleaning up all the chocolate on their hands, faces, and clothes was a different story though.When you get tired of finding eggs, try rolling them!
Too bad Kurt, Ruby found your camo egg!Hmmm.... Jeff and trees.... this is why he doesn't own a chainsaw.
Jeff tried squeezing through the tunnel on Pearl's playground. I honestly didn't think he would make it but with a little help from Pearl, he did. He's full of surprises!The attempt at taking some family photos.
After prying Pearl and Rue off of the slides, we went inside for our Easter brunch feast. Pearl had helped me set the table earlier, isn't it cute?
My family has a favorite breakfast quiche that we usually eat on New Year's day and I decided it was a perfect fit for a cloudy day. I made two kinds, one with ham and another with sausage - both were a hit and easy to make. If I get enough comments :) I'll post the recipes! We also had juice, cinnamon rolls, muffins, and fresh fruit. Yummmmmm!!!!
After stuffing ourselves silly, it was time for the traditional Ding Dong Bunnies! I almost canceled the ding dong bunnies this year but after Nick and Kimmy said it wouldn't be the same, sent the two of them to the store to find the "good ears" (pipe cleaners with fat middles) and Jeff to get ding dongs. I think more people are in denial about making these than let on because ding dongs are always so hard to find Easter weekend, especially the boxes where the ding dongs come pre-wrapped in tin foil. My mom always made these at Easter when I was growing up, even being so crazy as to make enough for every kid in Primary! Easter just isn't the same without a good Ding Dong Bunny. The girls got a little carried away this year, with a Victoria's Secret "naughty" bunny, camo bunny in memory of my little brother who was in St. George, and "Damn Ducky" bunny (you'll have to pry the story out of my sister). Rue had a great time but Pearl was more interested in jabbing hers with pipe cleaners and eating the ding dongs (just like her dad).
At this point, Pearl and Ruby were tired, sick with candy, and approaching crazy stage. I can't remember how it got started but the next thing we knew, Kimmy had stripped down and put "dresses" on both of them. Good thing Kimmy wears a gazillion layers of clothes so both of them could have a dress. I obviously haven't finished reading my camera's user manual yet and was trying out the action setting but it didn't work. Everything from the fashion show was blurry but at least you get the idea. It was hilarious to watch them tromp around in Kimmy's shirts - or in Pearl's case what looked like naughty lingerie - and my high heels. They loved it!!! Even my dad got in on the action with a boa. Maybe we'll start a new Easter tradition with a family fashion show, only next time adults have to keep their clothes on!
And if that wasn't enough excitement for one day, we went to another Easter egg hunt that evening (Pearl was exhausted and not to happy to be there), opened presents from Grandpa and Grandma Spring (a musical instrument set and puzzle clock), attempted to clean up from the day's fun, and crashed on the couch. I barely had enough energy to remember to put out Pearl's basket so the Easter bunny could fill it with Word World DVDs!